Basildon, Berkshire

Coordinates: 51°29′49″N 1°08′13″W / 51.496973°N 1.136999°W / 51.496973; -1.136999
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

For other places with the same name, see Basildon (disambiguation).
Basildon
2011 census)[1]
• Density129/km2 (330/sq mi)
OS grid referenceSU599779
Civil parish
  • Basildon
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townREADING
Postcode districtRG8
Dialling code0118/01491
PoliceThames Valley
FireRoyal Berkshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Berkshire
51°29′49″N 1°08′13″W / 51.496973°N 1.136999°W / 51.496973; -1.136999

Basildon is a

civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. It comprises the small villages of Upper Basildon and Lower Basildon, named for their respective heights above the River Thames.[citation needed
]

Geography

Basildon is 7 miles (11 km) from

parliamentary constituency.[2]

History

A gold Iron Age quarter stater coin from the reign of Commius, found in Basildon in 2013 and dated to c. 50 – c. 25 BCE[3]

Ancient flint axes have been found in Basildon but the earliest physical remains to be seen today are two

Norman Conquest the manor of Basildon was held by a free woman named Aileva.[5]

In 1349, many of the local populace died from the

Basildon House, the country seat of the Fane family who later also built the Grotto in Lower Basildon, near the Thames.[citation needed] The present house was built and the park laid out for Sir Francis Sykes in 1776. The history of the village then largely followed the fortunes of the estate owners. J. M. W. Turner stayed at Basildon Park and since he painted "Rain, Steam and Speed" in 1844, this painting has sometimes been said to show the Basildon railway bridge which stands in the valley below the house.[4] However, it is generally accepted as showing the Maidenhead Railway Bridge.[citation needed
]

Education

Basildon primary school,[6] founded in 1875, is located in Upper Basildon and provides education for about 140 children. Secondary education is provided primarily by Theale Green School, 6 miles away in Theale.

Amenities

The Intersection at the Red Lion

Public house

The parish has one public house, the Red Lion, in Upper Basildon.

Beale Park

Main article: Beale Wildlife Park

Beale Park is a 40-acre outdoor

wildlife park located between Basildon Park
and the River Thames.

Transport

Thames Travel bus services 132/133 (Reading to Goring-on-Thames) serve Basildon.[7]

Notable buildings

Churches

The parish has two churches. The

Grade I listed St Bartholomew's Church
in Lower Basildon dates from the 13th Century and is now owned and maintained by the
St Stephen's[8] in Upper Basildon was built in 1964.[citation needed] This replaced the temporary place of worship, located on the corner of Bethesda Street and Blandy's Lane, which was built in 1895.[4]

Basildon Park

Main article: Basildon Park

The

Van Dyck.[citation needed] Part of the surviving collection hangs at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire, where their descendants live.[4]

Demography

2011 Published Statistics: Population, home ownership and extracts from Physical Environment, surveyed in 2005[1]
Output area Homes owned outright Owned with a loan Socially rented Privately rented Other km2 roads km2 water km2 domestic gardens Usual residents km2
Civil parish 251 286 50 62 17 0.2 0.3 0.7 1767 13.7

Notable people

Upper Basildon was the place of birth (1674) and Lower Basildon the place of burial (1741) of Jethro Tull, the English agricultural pioneer who helped bring about the British Agricultural Revolution.[citation needed] Other notable Basildonians include:

Legacy

The British

James Archibald Morrison
.

References

  1. ^ a b "Key Statistics: Dwellings; Quick Statistics: Population Density; Physical Environment: Land Use Survey 2005". Archived from the original on 11 February 2003. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 27 February 2008.
  3. ^ Williams, David (30 October 2013) [29 October 2013]. "Finds record for: -SUR-FE63C5". The Portable Antiquities Scheme. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Basildon Parish Plan".
  5. ^ a b Ditchfield, Peter Hemson; Page, William (1923). The Victoria History of the County of Berkshire Volume 3. London. pp. 457–463.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ "Children and Young People *". Westberks.org. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  7. ^ "Oxfordshire and Berkshire Bus service". Thames Travel. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  8. ^ A Church Near You. "Basildon: St Stephen, Upper Basildon – Berkshire | Diocese of Oxford". Achurchnearyou.com. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  9. ISBN 0-7102-0174-5
    .
  10. ^ Basildon Bond. "History". Basildon Bond. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2011.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Basildon, Berkshire.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Basildon,_Berkshire&oldid=1177503095"